Doves
by Ultimate-Bear
Summary: Prompt. Sometimes, miracles can work in the strangest ways. Mentions of light violence. Based on "Yuri and the Bear".


**So I got depressed because of Yuri and the Bear (if you want to see how depressed I was, you can go check my "Let's Discuss" episode on it in tumblr. It's mostly theories but I was sad while making it). And I was supposed to review for exams but meh I just did some fanfic. I guess it's been some time since I posted something here, no?**

 **-Ultimate-Bear-sama**

* * *

 ** _Prompt. Sometimes, miracles can work in the strangest ways._**

* * *

 _"Story?"_

 _The little bear nodded, the smile that was placed on his face growing wider as his paw pointed at the handwritten book that laid on the man's chair. The Russian man was a bit unsure of what to do since he had done it out of boredom and had no intention on showing it to anyone. He barely had anything in this Siberian land save for his tent, property, himself and the polar bear who crept into his tent a year ago all because he managed to find the smell of good stew. It was odd how a cub such as him could change his world in one year, especially with what happened to his wife and daughter. And though the cub had managed after the man let it freeze in the harsh winters, he still tried to keep up his image or the cub might grow up, forgetting about obedience and respect. But at times like this, he'd let his soft side expose to the little one._

 _He sighed. "Fine. Yuri will read story to you."_

 _The cub jumped on the bed twice out of excitement before allowing himself to get comfortable. Christmas was fast approaching and that made the winter in Siberia even harsher than it is on normal days. So aside from relying on the fire, he wrapped himself in blanket. Sure, he can survive such winter. But ever since he started living with Yuri, the concept of heat intrigued him. Even so, he knew that too much heat can harm him since he's still a polar bear. That's why, unlike Yuri, who had around three layers of thick blankets on him was still shivering a bit, he covered his chest with a blanket but still let his feet delve into the cold breeze._

 _Yuri picked up the book and sat on the foot of the bed, looking at the bear as if he were his own son. Oddly enough, he considers the cub as his precious son._

 _"Alright then. Once upon a time..."_

* * *

Ice Bear collapsed on the wooden chair, exhausted yet satisfied with what he had made. While Panda set up the fireplace, Grizz went out to buy some things, and Chloe and Charlie hung the Christmas decorations, the polar bear busied himself by preparing their Christmas dinner. Sweet yet savory roasted turkey took the center of the table with fresh salad, mashed potato, pasta, models of the cave, the three bears and their friends made out of gingerbread, blueberry muffins, apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, steamed fish, and pirozhki surrounding it. The table was new and bigger, for Ranger Tabes, Lucy, and Chloe's parents would come later. He didn't want to admit it, but he was glad that the new table was larger than before. Ice Bear felt that from three, their family is slowly growing. And he secretly loved each one of them despite the flaws. It might have seemed that the saying, "The more, the merrier." is true. Every time a new member would join the family, the flower of joy residing in his heart would grow and bloom. The feeling of happiness felt weird. But Ice Bear enjoyed it nonetheless.

However, he also felt a surge of sadness flowing in him. And he knew why.

Beside the gingerbread model of himself was a figure of a big, Russian man. He wore brown, winter clothes and had a long beard that reached up until the spot where his diaphragm was. The figure held a tiny, axe on his right hand and his family picture on the left. And he wore a gentle smile; such is a rare sigh seen by those who knew him.

Grizz and Panda always thought that it was Santa Claus. And Ice Bear couldn't blame them. Once or twice, in his childhood, he teased Yuri for looking like Santa Claus and Yuri couldn't help but laugh at the imaginations of the cub.

Ice Bear remembered the one Christmas wherein Yuri wore a Santa Claus outfit (knitted by said man), yelling "С Рождество́м!" or "Merry Christmas!" and giving him handmade gifts. Of all the Christmases (both Russian and Western) he celebrated, that was the most entertaining one.

He chuckled a bit before reflecting and thinking about the man.

How was he anyway? How long had it even been since they last saw each other? Did he miss him? Has he forgotten about him? And the more the thoughts were formulated, the more depressed he becme.

Christmas is supposed to be a holiday of joy. So why did he feel sad?

His moment was abruptly interrupted when he heard Chloe happily yell, "Mom, Dad, you made it!"

Ice Bear slowly stood up from his seat and greeted the guests. Strangely, he thought, nobody freaked out at the sight of Charlie. He then probably thought that it's already normal for them to see talking non-human beings since seeing four anthropomorphic animals is weird enough.

"Well, everyone's here. But where's Grizz?"Chloe asked.

Panda looked around and sighed. "Well he's always late. So I guess it'd be okay with him if we start eating now. What do you say, little bro?"

Ice Bear nodded. After all, waiting for Grizz would take forever.

With that, Panda led their guests to the table and they all began eating.

* * *

"Well about a little story from our minds?"

Everyone looked at Charlie with a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"Lucy asked.

"Well, looks like we're all stressed from our life problems. So why don't we try to tell a story from our imaginations? After all, that can calm our lil' brains from all the things we're facing, right?"

Everyone eventually agreed and started debating on who should go first.

"Well I don't know. Formulating a good story is quite hard. What about you, Charlie?"

"I don't know, little lady. Horror movies on Christmas feels wrong, am I right? What about you, Ms. Lucy?"

"I'm not a writer so it's a challenge for me. What about Mr. and Mrs. Park?"

"An old mind's imagination is always tired and weak."

"I can't think of anything good. What about you, Panda?"

"I'm a bit nervous. What about my little bro? He can make good stories in an instant."

Everyone turned to Ice Bear. Said bear widened his eyes. "I-Ice Bear..."

"Come on, bro. It's just one story."

He sighed, immediately giving up. "Ice Bear will tell story."

But what story could he use?

And then he remembered that night when Yuri read that story ot him.

Ice Bear closed his eyes and began to tell the story.

"Once upon time..."

* * *

 _"...there were two droves that lived in fields. One was father and other was son. They lived in crooked tree."_

 _The cub got down from the bed, got a pencil and paper, went back to his spot, and drew what Yuri described._

 _Yuri looked t him weirdly before clearing his throat. "Um..._ _да. Two doves. But one day, son dove was angry. He asked, 'Father, why can we not go to city?' Father dove said, 'Dangerous. Can get killed.'_

* * *

 _"_ Dangerous? At this night? It's not that dange-"

They suddenly heard a gunshot and police sirens from afar.

Charlie, awkward because of what he commented, cleared his throat. "Y-You may continue."

* * *

 _"Son dove got more angry. So one night, son dove escaped from tree and tried to find way into city."_

 _The cub tilted his head, confused. Yuri stopped. "What's wrong?" The bear then pointed at the word "город"which meant "city".  
_

 _"City? You do not know what city is?"The cub nodded. Yuri thought for a bit before getting a piece of paper and borrowing the pencil the bear held. He then drew rectangles and added squares in them so they would look like buildings. He drew roads, cars, and even scribbled people. Yuri showed the picture to the cub. "This is city." The cub nodded, now understanding what a city is. He copied the picture before Yuri continued._

* * *

"Son dove was amazed when he came into the city. He tried new food, saw new places, and got friends. But he was a bit sad because father dove was not there. But son dove still enjoyed the city."

"Sooo...what happened after that?"Chloe asked.

Before Ice Bear was able to even continue, a loud knock was heard.

Panda rushed to open the door and shrieked when he saw Grizz's left arm on a cast. On his right arm was a shopping bag full of gifts. And Grizz's expression spelled out the statement, "I'm not okay."

"Oh my gosh, Grizz! What happened to you?"

The rest immediately stood up and helped Panda in taking care of the grizzly bear. Mr. and Mrs. Park prepared the remedies, Charlie and Panda escorted Grizz to his room, Ice Bear made the bed comfortable for him, and Chloe filled up a plate full of food and set it on the table in the eldest's room.

Once everything was settled, Grizz explained what had happened to him.

"You'll never guess what happened! So I was walking towards home from the mall when some robbers were chasing this old Russian guy and I had to stop them. Well, I gave time for the guy to hide but one of the robbers shot me on the arm. It turns out that the Russian dude called the police and the hospital,"he said as he munched on the gingerbread model of himself. "He paid my hospital bills nd we gave to each other our addresses."

Panda groaned. "Grizz, you can't just give out our address to some random stranger!"

"Well he seemed like a nice person. Plus, he saved me!"

As the argument went on, Chloe and Ice Bear decided decided to go out to the front porch. The breeze made Chloe shiver but it did not affect Ice Bear one bit.

Chloe sipped on the hot chocolate as Ice Bear started at the snowflakes that were falling from the sky. He stuck his tongue out and caught a flake with it.

Indeed, it felt like home. But it wasn't complete.

Ice Bear looked at the Christmas Eve star above his head. His right paw was raised as if he wanted to grab it.

He wanted the star to take him home. Back to the snow. Back to catching fresh fish. Back to where he did nothing but chop wood, clean, cook, fix, learn, and play solitaire. Back to Yuri.

He wanted to cry. It may sound selfish. But he wanted to abandon his brothers and friends just to get to him again. He wanted to go back to those days. He wanted those peaceful days back. The pain in his heart was too much.

A small pair of hands held his arm. Ice Bear turned to see Chloe smiling.

"I'm so curious, though. What happened after son dove ran away to the city?"

The story. He forgot all about it, especially when he saw Grizz.

Ice Bear gave a small smile, remembering the creator of the story, and continued.

* * *

 _"Father dove panicked and looked for son until he realized that he may be in city. So father dove went to city to look for him. He saw son dove caught by men!"_

 _The cub gulped and tried to draw the whole scenario, terrified of what might happen next. He felt a rush of fear running in his veins as Yuri turned to the next page._

 _"Father dove followed men until they were in a hideout. Father dove became sneaky and spied on men. One man got son dove and had a knife with him. Father dove came out and beat men. But he did not beat one man with son and knife. When he realized that, he launched onto man but-"_

* * *

Ice Bear paused.

He made a big mistake.

He finally remembered the ending to the story.

And it was something a ten-year old like Chloe could not probably take.

"But..? But? But?! What happened?"

He cleared his throat and continued.

"Father dove realized that son dove escaped and was on top of man. They beat man together. Son dove apologized to father for escaping and they went back home. The end."

Chloe's face brightened. "That's a really amazing story! I guess that story got some stress out of my system, even just for a bit. Thanks!"

The bear showed a small smile, happy that Chloe was satisfied.

The moment was interrupted when they saw Grizz running around, yelling that it's time to open the gifts while Panda angrily chased his brother and yelled at him to get back to bed.

Chloe chuckled. "I guess it's time to open them up, huh?"

Ice Bear simply looked down and nodded, once again thinking about the man who changed his world. He recalled his voice, laugh, smile, and everything else associated with him.

His longing for him grew the more he thought about Yuri.

A paw grabbed his arm. Ice Bear turned his head to see his brothers, smiling.

Grizz grinned. "Come on, little brother. It won't be complete without you!"

A moment later, Ice Bear smiled and looked at Grizz's paw on his own.

That was right. Yuri was in the past. And the place where he's standing is in the present. Just like the past, he has family. But unlike the past, it's more than one. And Ice Bear is happy and thankful for it.

He nodded and followed them back inside.

But that didn't mean that the magic would be there forever.

* * *

After all the fun and cleaning up, Ice Bear sat in his fridge, unable to sleep. For some reason, he felt guilty about lying to Chloe when he told the ending.

But then, it was for her safety. She did not want to be an emotional mess upon going to bed. He cared for the girl _that_ much.

That, however, wasn't the only reason why he refused to say it.

* * *

 _"But before he knew it, man stabbed son dove and punched father dove. Man then ran away from hideout to get something. Father dove saw son dove's dead body and cried. Was not able to save son dove. Was too end."_

 _That, in any way, was not good for children._

Ice Ber looked to his left and tried to prevent himself from thinking about that event. Wasn't he supposed to move on and be happy with where he is now?

If so, why did feel as if he weren't happy?

 _Yuri looked at the scared cub oddly. He was, at first, confused._

 _"D-Did you not like Yuri's story?"_

 _But when he saw the the tears, he finally realized it. Without another though, Yuri hugged the crying cub and pat his back._

A tear rolled down.

He wasn't supposed to feel this way. But he couldn't control it. His heart ached and he felt himself shaking.

 _"Are you crying because you are afraid to lose Yuri?"_

Yes, he was afraid. And he did lose him. In just a second, everything fell apart. His greatest nightmare came true.

 _He rocked the bear, allowing the rest of his soft side to expose itself to him._

 _"It will be okay,"he whispered._

It wasn't okay. What happened to them in the end was not okay. And in the end, it left a million scars and wounds in his heart.

 _"Yuri will protect whatever comes at us."_

And he did. But at what cost?

 _"Do not cry anymore. Yuri promises that. Nothing will break us apart."_

But he never actually fulfilled his promise. In the end, they still got separated. In the end, he lost him. And he'll never see him again no matter how much he tried to believe that he will.

For the rest of dawn, he wept for the first time in years until he fell asleep.

What he didn't realize, however, was that while he was asleep, someone pecked him on his head.

"It is him,"he hoarsely said, unable to hide the tears and joy. The man turned to the two bears as he gently closed the fridge door and smiled. "Thank you."

Grizz and Panda looked at each other and smiled. "We're happy to help, sir."The eldest replied. Panda tilted his head with a worried look. "Should we wake him up?"

The man shook his head. "Let him sleep."Grizz nodded. "Well we have a spare room over there. Are you sure you can wait though? Knowing how tired little bro is, it will probably take a few hours until he wakes up."

The Russian chuckled, opened the door, and looked at the bear he had been searching for years. Somehow, it was as if a Christmas miracle suddenly fell down to Earth as fast as a bag of gravel falling from the cliff. But he was grateful for it. He was thankful for whatever led him to this. It gave the man a sudden surge of hope in him that it's not the end. That despite all that, some things are meant to be found. And he found himself with overflowing joy when he saw him.

But as for now, he can wait just a bit more.

"Yuri can always wait."

* * *

 **And now that's done.**

 **Feedbacks?**

 **-Ultimate-Bear-sama**


End file.
